Fight over Park Slope Coop Israel boycott has Jewish members fearing for their safety all over 5 products

A Park Slope Food Coop is preparing a vote to lower the threshold for boycotting Israeli-sold products. Members reported fear of harassment and threats of violence tied to opposition to an anti-Israel campaign. The vote was originally planned for an in-person meeting but shifted to a Zoom-only vote after many of the coop’s 15,000 members raised explicit safety concerns. Board member Ramon Maislen said some anti-Israel members were “fairly violent,” and coordinators Ann Herpel and Matt Hoagland wrote that security could not be guaranteed even with stepped-up measures. The vote is largely symbolic because only a small number of Israeli products are carried, including seasonal kosher Passover matzo and some hummus. The campaign has been active since 2012 and intensified after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and the Gaza war.

"The vote was originally set to happen at a meeting at The Picnic House in Prospect Park on Tuesday, but it had to be moved to a Zoom-only vote after many of the coop's 15,000 members raised explicit concerns about their safety, according to internal emails obtained by The Post."

"People were nervous to go physically, coop board member Ramon Maislen told The Post. They are fairly violent, Maislen alleged of the anti-Israel members. Some coop members told Maislen they were worried that people who publicly opposed the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) motion could be harassed when the meeting ends late Tuesday."

"The coordinators of the co-p, Ann Herpel and Matt Hoagland, admitted in an email to members that even with stepped up safety measures at the meeting, we cannot guarantee their security. The vote is almost entirely symbolic the coop carries only a handful of products from Israel, including matzo that's kosher for Passover, sold seasonally, and some hummus."

"Tuesday's vote which has been on the table for over a year is the culmination of an anti-Israel movement at the cooop that has been raging since 2012. It all got worse after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in Israel and the war in Gaza. Maislen filed a complaint with the state Human Rights Division in 2024, alleging he and other Jewish members were harassed for opposing the campaign to boycott Israeli products."

Read at nypost.com